Respect for Leaders

This message is the second of a series on "respect for authority", revealing how God requires all men to respect for their leaders. SUPPORT for a ruler of your people is expected by God. In Acts 23, Paul asserted that he was pleasing to God, but that the Jews were not. Immediately, the high priest Ananias commanded Paul's guards to assault him in the mouth, causing Paul to point out how Ananias deserved judgment for hypocrisy and violating the Law. Once Paul recognized that he had verbally abused God's high priest, he admitted his ignorance and pointed out the Biblical requirement to speak well of a ruler. I Peter 2 commands believers to SUBMIT themselves to human authorities. They were to obediently follow the rules and their rulers, so that they might silence the ignorance of foolish men. And they were obligated to use their liberation in Christ to serve God. Their Christlike lifestyle required four actions: (1) honor all men; (2) love the brotherhood; (3) fear God; (4) honor the king